Let's turn back time a little.

Before the final cla.s.s time slot in the morning, a girl with long brown hair who wore black-rimmed eyegla.s.ses walked into the infirmary. Her face was rather pale, and she said that her head was somewhat dizzy, making her uncomfortable.

Kaede had her rest on one of the infirmary beds and gave her a checkup while asking some questions.

This girl was from Year 2, Cla.s.s 1. Her name was Miyabi Is.h.i.+hara. Recently, she had been having trouble sleeping at night, and constantly woke up…

Kaede had her rest here for a while and gave her the recommendation to go to a formal hospital later to be seen by a doctor.

Is.h.i.+hara agreed and closed her eyes to rest here.

A while later, something strange happened.

The infirmary door automatically closed by itself, the window curtains started moving despite the fact that there was no wind, and even a cup mysteriously moved itself…

Kaede felt something indescribably subtle! It was as if someone invisible was lightly touching her.

After faintly perceiving that there was something here, she walked out of the infirmary and called Seiji.

"Something invisible…" Could it be that an Awakened was using his powers to hara.s.s the beautiful infirmary nurse!?

That was the first thought Seiji had when he received this phone call. He even imagined a hentai scenario involving someone invisible… cough, stop right there!

He responded that he would immediately head over to the infirmary.

Mika and Chiaki wanted to go as well after learning what happened.

And so, the three of them went to the infirmary together and saw the blonde teacher not far away from the infirmary door.

"Harano-kun…"

"Let me enter first by myself and check the situation out. You all wait outside for me."

Seiji cast [Astral Vision] and prepared himself for anything that might happen as he entered the infirmary by himself.

He saw… a ghost?

The ghost had slightly dark skin, messy short curly brown hair, clear yellow eyes, and a band-aid on its right cheek. It was wearing a striped T-s.h.i.+rt and blue shorts… it seemed like a little boy and a little girl at the same time. It was sitting on a chair, swinging its legs.

This child had the cuteness of a girl, as well as the mannerism of a boy. The ghost felt rather androgynous, and it was difficult for Seiji to ascertain if the ghost was a boy or a girl.

While Seiji observed him or her, the ghost looked towards Seiji as well.

They exchanged glances.

The little ghost blinked and got off from the chair, hopping and skipping to in front of Seiji. The ghost then waved its hand at Seiji.

"Who are you?" Seiji asked since it seemed like communication was possible.

The little ghost widened its eyes and seemed to be shocked at this question.

And then, it smiled and spoke up, "I'm Ychan!"

Its voice sounded somewhat hollow.

"Ychan?"

"Yeah! How about you, onii-san?"

"You can just call me Harano." Seiji looked at the ghost. "Ychan, why are you here?"

"I don't know. I was just suddenly here."

"Do you know how you came about to be?"

"I don't know." Ychan shook its head.

"Where's your home?"

"I don't know." Another shaking of its head.

"What's your full name?"

"Full name?"

"Your personal name and family name."

"I don't know." It shook its head yet again.

'It doesn't know anything… are all ghosts like this?' Seiji furrowed his eyebrows slightly.

"Harano onii-san, let's play together!" Ychan smiled.

"What do you want to play?"

"I want to play hide and seek!"

Playing hide and seek with a ghost… if this was a haunted house at night, then that would definitely make for a suitable atmosphere. However, right now it was around noontime, the suns.h.i.+ne was streaming through the window, and this was an infirmary with someone still sleeping on the bed.

Seiji looked over at the brown-haired girl sleeping quietly in the infirmary bed while covered by a blanket. She had a beautiful face that appeared rather pale, giving her an aura of a sleeping beauty.

At this moment, she moved, and made a sound of discomfort.

The ghost Ychan instantly vanished!

It completely disappeared… Seiji looked all around him and couldn't find the ghost anywhere.

"Mmm…" The brown-haired girl moaned lightly as she slowly opened her eyes.

She dazedly looked at the ceiling for a moment before turning around and picking up the black-rimmed eyegla.s.ses by the pillow, putting them on as she slowly sat up.

Seiji watched her do all this.

She noticed Seiji and looked at him as well.

"I apologize. Did I wake you up?" Seiji said when they exchanged glances.

"No… you didn't."

"That's good, then… I'll be going out now. Please continue to rest."

He said that, then left the infirmary as he said he would.

"How is it, Harano-kun?" Kaede and the others gathered around him.

"I saw a Spiritual Creature that seems to be some sort of ghost," Seiji responded. "It appears like an elementary school student, and called itself Ychan…"

He explained the situation just now, and inferred that this ghost was related in some way to the girl resting in the infirmary.

"Could that girl be possessed?" Chiaki asked.

"I'm not sure." Seiji rubbed his chin in contemplation.

When that brown-haired girl woke up, the ghost suddenly disappeared… he had witnessed a similar phenomenon before.

It felt similar to New Year's Eve, when Reo and Mayuzumi displayed "abnormal scenes" while sleeping!

At that time, it only happened once on that night, and never appeared again, so he put it behind him.

He didn't expect that he would see something similar from another person, not to mention that the phenomenon in question would be a ghost that could even talk!

"Juumonji-sensei, who is that girl in there?"

"She's a student from Year 2, Cla.s.s 1, and her name is Miyabi Is.h.i.+hara…" Kaede explained the situation.

"Is.h.i.+hara… does she have long brown hair and wear black-rimmed eyegla.s.ses?" Chiaki asked.

"Yes."

"That's her, then. She's one of Vice President s.h.i.+ho's friends, and a student librarian. We met her before at the study group."

"The study group…" Seiji did his best to recall. "I seem to remember the vice-president… s.h.i.+ho-senpai talking to a girl with that appearance."

"Yep, that's her. Hah… based on my observation, if Is.h.i.+ha.r.s.enpai takes off those thick eyegla.s.ses of hers and does her hair properly, she'll be an excellent beauty. There'd be such a great contrast!" Something flashed in Chiaki's eyes.

"n.o.body asked about that," Mika commented.

"A student librarian that can become a beauty just by taking off her eyegla.s.ses is a cla.s.sical character. Indeed, that Is.h.i.+ha.r.s.enpai has this sort of potential." Seiji nodded in agreement.

"I know! She has an excellent figure as well. If she also puts on some appropriate and beautiful clothing, she'd definitely become quite alluring!"

"That, I didn't notice, although her b.r.e.a.s.t.s are indeed… er… cough, stop!" Seiji hurriedly stopped himself.

Apart from the fact that Mika was now glaring at him, more important was that Is.h.i.+hara herself had just walked out of the infirmary.

Kaede went up and asked, "Is.h.i.+harsan, are you feeling better?" 

"Yeah… I'm fine now. Thank you, Sensei," Miyabi Is.h.i.+hara replied.

"Don't force yourself. If you feel like you're in no condition to be in cla.s.ses, then apply for sick leave."

"Okay. Thank you for your concern, Sensei," she politely responded to Kaede as she turned around to leave.

"It seems like she's alright."

"Her only problem is having trouble sleeping… Who knows if this will continue?"

Although Seiji felt like this situation was similar with Peach-sensei's, Miyabi Is.h.i.+hara only said that she couldn't sleep well but didn't mention anything about nightmares, which was different from Peach-sensei. Besides, the abnormal scenes were different as well, so they couldn't be compared. That was what Seiji believed.

He decided to temporarily take a wait-and-see approach.

"Juumonji-sensei, if this Is.h.i.+ha.r.s.enpai comes visit the infirmary again, please contact me." He requested this of Kaede.

The blonde teacher nodded in affirmation.

At this moment, two boys arrived. One boy was supporting the other, who had a pained expression on his face.

"Sensei, he tripped on the stairs and injured himself."

"Go ahead and help him in."

Kaede indicated to the two boys as she walked back into the infirmary.

"We should take our leave now."

Seiji, Mika, and Chiaki decided to leave.

"You have any clues, Seiji?"

"I think so… Is.h.i.+ha.r.s.enpai is quite similar to Peach-sensei."

"Eh?" Chiaki blinked to hear this. "Now that you mention it, it's true! Her appearance, figure, and overall aura do make her seem like a high school version of Amami-sensei!"

"That's not what I meant. I was talking about her situation," Seiji clarified. However, he then considered it again. "But, what you said… seems right as well. Is.h.i.+ha.r.s.enpai indeed feels a bit like a high school version of Sensei."

"I know! Perhaps they're actually even relatives."

"How could there be such a coincidence? You're thinking too much into it."

"Don't deny it so fast. Perhaps they really are…"

They started yet another pa.s.sionate discussion.

'Honestly…' Mika could only sigh at her two good friends that got sidetracked yet again.